Is it necessary to be a CNA b4 nursing school?

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Hi - I'm not sure what to do on this one. I'm thinking of getting my CNA but I've heard it's a lot of butt wiping and horrible work. I'm going to start volunteering and job shadowing and I'm wondering if this will give me good experience/exposure to nursing so I can bypass being a CNA? In your experience, do most new nurses have previous health care experience?

Thanks for all your feedback!!!

I wish I had shadowed...and for a good period of time. There are too many differences between CNA work and RN or even LPN work. If you shadow someone good you will see not only skills and supplies at work, you will also see how RNs and LPNs multi-task. CNAs obviously multi-task, but their responsibilities are different... The shadowing experiences should be as long as you need it to be, so what you see is as wide as possible and it is sticking in your mind.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
SWEE 2000 I wish more CNA's could see their roles the way you do.

Me too!!! ;)

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Specializes in Operating Room.

No, I don't think it's necessary. Any healthcare experience is going to help, I don't think it necessarily has to be a CNA. Had my nursing school required a CNA cert. specifically, I would have had to take time out of my surg tech job, which paid WAY more than any CNA job would(18.00 an hour as opposed to 10.00 an hour). My surg tech experience helped me in school as well. I kicked butt at sterile dressings, knew how to maintain a sterile field(and actually taught the instructor a thing or two) and even had little to no problems with body systems, anatomy etc because I saw the insides of people every day at work and had surgeons that would "quiz" me because they knew I was in school.

I'm not trying to sound snotty, but bed baths and toileting someone are fairly easy to pick up. Also, everyone is not the same. Some people pick things up quickly, others don't. I think they should just leave it up to the students. If you think having a CNA will help you, then great. But, I don't see why it should be a requirement.

It's the job of NS to teach people what they don't know. This is what we pay them for, IMHO. Just my 2 cents.

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It's the job of NS to teach people what they don't know. This is what we pay them for, IMHO. Just my 2 cents.

I see your point. However, by the same logic, you could question most pre-reqs as well. Microbio, anatomy, physiology, etc. Since bed baths and toileting are so easy to pick up, isn't more efficient for the schools to have the students learn that on their own time at a CNA course? Then when they start the program, they can get right to the teaching professional nursing care (assessment, care planning, etc) without wasting any precious time on the most basic skills that non-professional staff can also take care of. And by having students who have already taken a CNA course, they will have pre-screened out any students for whom the reality of hands-on care is distasteful.

I do, however, agree that WORKING as a CNA shouldn't be a requirement for nursing school entry. It *would* be silly for you to quit your surg tech job to work as a CNA. But it wouldn't seem unreasonable to me to require a CNA course. If schools do, though, they should make sure that there are such courses offered in the community at various times to accomodate working pre-nursing students.

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It's the job of NS to teach people what they don't know. This is what we pay them for, IMHO. Just my 2 cents.

I see your point. However, by the same logic, you could question most pre-reqs as well. Microbio, anatomy, physiology, etc. Since bed baths and toileting are so easy to pick up, isn't more efficient for the schools to have the students learn that on their own time at a CNA course? Then when they start the program, they can get right to the teaching professional nursing care (assessment, care planning, etc) without wasting any precious time on the most basic skills that non-professional staff can also take care of. And by having students who have already taken a CNA course, they will have pre-screened out any students for whom the reality of hands-on care is distasteful.

I do, however, agree that WORKING as a CNA shouldn't be a requirement for nursing school entry. It *would* be silly for you to quit your surg tech job to work as a CNA. But it wouldn't seem unreasonable to me to require a CNA course. If schools do, though, they should make sure that there are such courses offered in the community at various times to accomodate working pre-nursing students.

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Specializes in Operating Room.
I see your point. However, by the same logic, you could question most pre-reqs as well. Microbio, anatomy, physiology, etc. Since bed baths and toileting are so easy to pick up, isn't more efficient for the schools to have the students learn that on their own time at a CNA course? Then when they start the program, they can get right to the teaching professional nursing care (assessment, care planning, etc) without wasting any precious time on the most basic skills that non-professional staff can also take care of. And by having students who have already taken a CNA course, they will have pre-screened out any students for whom the reality of hands-on care is distasteful.

I do, however, agree that WORKING as a CNA shouldn't be a requirement for nursing school entry. It *would* be silly for you to quit your surg tech job to work as a CNA. But it wouldn't seem unreasonable to me to require a CNA course. If schools do, though, they should make sure that there are such courses offered in the community at various times to accomodate working pre-nursing students.

I don't even think the CNA course is necessary, I would view it as a waste of time. In clinicals the students who were CNA's sometimes had a hard time leaving that mindset behind and would focus on the CNA aspects(I'm assuming because it was comfortable and familiar) and the higher level skills were sometimes overlooked. This was in our last semester of school by the way.

I still say that making students do a CNA course to pick up rudimentary skills that the vast majority of students master inside of a week, is a waste of time and money. As for those who are frightened of baths, toileting, etc after the first few weeks, you are always going to have people who can't hack it. Making everyone take a CNA class based on the needs of a few doesn't make sense to me.

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Specializes in Operating Room.

Forgot to add this. If the schools that required a CNA made some sort of exception for those with prior healthcare experience, then I'd have no problem with this scenario. This way, those with zero healthcare background gain experience and those who have experience won't have to waste time in a class that's really not going to help them all that much. Many of these classes are 4 to 6 weeks, and it's money that comes out of the student's pocket.

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If the schools that required a CNA made some sort of exception for those with prior healthcare experience, then I'd have no problem with this scenario.

That makes sense. I agree!

Many of these classes are 4 to 6 weeks, and it's money that comes out of the student's pocket.

All of the other pre-req classes cost money as well, so I don't see that as a strong reason to not require a CNA course.

You're right about the problem of some experienced CNAs having trouble with the transition. I'd imagine that has more to do with the individual than with anyone who has ever worked as a CNA. It's just that statistically, those who have worked longer as a CNA are more likely to have learning obstacles (family obligations, test-taking issues, financial difficulties, etc) than those who haven't. Otherwise, they likely would've pursued further education sooner.

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Hi - I'm not sure what to do on this one. I'm thinking of getting my CNA but I've heard it's a lot of butt wiping and horrible work. I'm going to start volunteering and job shadowing and I'm wondering if this will give me good experience/exposure to nursing so I can bypass being a CNA? In your experience, do most new nurses have previous health care experience?

Thanks for all your feedback!!!

Just so you know that being an RN doesn't mean you get to stop 'wiping butts'. If you think that you won't have to do any patient care as an RN including baths then you are sorely mistaken.

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Just so you know that being an RN doesn't mean you get to stop 'wiping butts'. If you think that you won't have to do any patient care as an RN including baths then you are sorely mistaken.

Unless, of course, you DONT plan to work in an area where baths are given and butts are wiped - then you are pretty much right on the money...

Not every nurse works in areas where these are expected duties, so don't let anyone tell you that if these duties are not for you that nursing is automatically not for you, because it is simply untrue.

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SWEE 2000,

This is an awesome post(in my opinion)! :-)

Thank you!:urck:

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Unless, of course, you DONT plan to work in an area where baths are given and butts are wiped - then you are pretty much right on the money...

Not every nurse works in areas where these are expected duties, so don't let anyone tell you that if these duties are not for you that nursing is automatically not for you, because it is simply untrue.

Even in behavioral health there could be butt wiping

I'm trying to think of areas that wouldn't require the occasional butt wiping. Administration?

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